Piku and Margarita With A Straw: A collective review of sorts

"It reminded me of my relationship with my father" said our bachelorette Bengali professor for whom Piku, the movie was relatable at all levels. Creative people go berserk. It is the quintessential aspect that makes them creative. This subtle nuance is visible in Architect Piku's (Deepika Padukone) behaviour and her entire character sketch (her limits of patience, her fears and how they relate to her attitude) reveals itself gradually as the taxi progresses. It is almost like watching an artist make a figurine. You can stand there for hours and keep appreciating every stroke being smudged on the canvas.In that similar fashion, you keep appreciating Piku while it lasts, but it won't stay with you for long like the hangover Margarita With A Straw gives you.

Both movies talk about a certain sense of unintentional dependancy, or to put it in a better way- a demanding subconscious. Piku's father wants her to live the life of an independant woman, but his health selfishly keeps her to himself. Laila's inabilities need the constant attention of her mother, however independant she wishes to become- she cannot. You don't usually give movies this amount of thought unless they have hit you personally. Be it me, my professor, or my mother with whom I saw the movies.

So when I exited from the hall after the two day movie streak, I was in total awe and appreciation for

the power of fiction.

I love movies that can make you cry or smile for no reason, for they talk about how potent the script and acting was- that it transported you amidst the characters and made you relate to them before you could realize that its happening to you. The actors put in an effort so great to blend themselves with the script that even after knowing that Amitabh is not Bengali and Kalki is not differently abled, you tell your brain that they are.
So much so that you smile at the simple lives and the complex emotions of these fictional figures as if they were long lost friends of yours. *spoiler alert* Or you cry when Laila gets an offer letter from the New York University and their family dances together because you had wished it from the very core of your heart for this to happen. I happened to cry twice during Margarita With A Straw.

*spoiler alert*The last scene, Laila goes on a date alone, with herself. As she enjoys her own company, I could not help but admire this scene as put by the director (or the scripwriter for that matter). After all those efforts of searching for the perfect lover, or being shunned/sympathised for in this insensitive nation for disabled, she finally starts loving herself. As a friend once said to me during my low times "If you don't love yourself, how will you love others?"